Wall mounted bracket for holding containers



Nov. 25, 1969 H. H. IVERSEN 3,480,244

WALL MOUNTED BRACKET FOR HOLDING CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 15, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HANS H. IVERSEN Nov. 25, 1969 H. H. IVERSEQN3,480,244

WALL MOUNTED BRACKET FOR HOLDING CONTAINERS Filed Feb. 13, 1969 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HANSH. IVERSEN.

United States Patent O 3,480,244 WALL MOUNTED BRACKET FOR HOLDINGCONTAINERS Hans H. Iversen, 7009 N. 42nd St., Omaha, Nebr. 68112Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 707,175,

Feb. 12, 1968. This application Feb. 13, 1969, Ser. No. 800,828

Int. Cl. A47g 29/00 US. Cl. 248-312 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURECROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation-in-part of prior application, Ser. No. 707,175, nowabandoned, filed on Feb. 12, 1968.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This inventionrelates to a wall-mounted bracket for mounting dispensing containers ona vertical surface and for permitting the container to be tilted todispense its contents.

Description of the prior art Various types of brackets for holdingcontainers are known. Some of these brackets permit the containers to betilted for dispensing purposes. However, the known brackets are complexand expensive to manufacture. Further, they do not permit easymanipulation of the container so that it may be tilted with littleeffort and will return to its upright position when released.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The bracket of the present invention includes amounting plate for attachment to a vertical surface. A shaft isrotatably mounted in the plate and extends normal to the surface of theplate. The shaft has an expansible, selfadjusting spring-type clamp atone end for engaging the neck of a dispensing bottle or container. Theuser may easily tilt the container about the axis of the rotatable shaftwith one hand while dispensing the contents thereof. Upon beingreleased, the container will automatically right itself without furthermanipulation by the user. This is important since many containers ofthis type are used for dispensing soap in factories and homes. Once thesoap is dispensed into the users hands, no further contact with thecontainer is required, thus eliminating the possibility of spilling,dropping or handling the container with wet or soap-covered hands. Byforming the clamp of an expansible, self-adjusting spring, the use ofvarious sizes of bottles is permitted with a single bracket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a view of the bracket ofthe present invention partially in section;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the rotatable shaft and spring clip of the bracketshown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view of a modification of the bracket shown in FIGURE 1,also partially in section;

3,480,244 Patented Nov. 25, 1969 ice FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of afurther modification of the bracket;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged plan view of the modified bracket of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged side view of the bracket of FIGURE 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGURE 1, thebracket of the present invention includes a mounting plate 10, the rearsurface of the plate being flat so that it may be attached to a wall. Itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that the rear surface canbe formed in any shape corresponding to the surface upon which thebracket is to be mounted. A bore 14 is formed in the plate perpendicularto rear surface. Preferably, the rear surface is coated with an adhesivematerial 12 for bonding the bracket to a wall, but any other means ofattachment may be used.

A shaft 16 (more easily seen in FIG. 2) is rotatably mounted in bore 14.One end of the shaft is flattened as at 18 to hold the shaft in themounting plate. The other end of the shaft is formed in a curvedextension 20, the radius of the curve of the extension beingapproximately that of the necks of containers to be mounted on thebracket. The purpose of this curve will be discussed later.

A clamp for engaging the neck of the container, indicated by numeral 21,is attached to the end of shaft 16 which extends from mounting plate 10.In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the clamp is formed of a coilspring 22 whose ends are brought together at the point 23 on shaft 16where curve 20 begins and are soldered to the shaft and each other. Oneend of coil spring 22 is slipped over curved portion 20 of Shaft 16 sothat the weight of the container will not pull the spring out of a planeperpendicular to rear surface of mounting plate 10. Coil spring 12 willexpand so that the threads, flange or lip on the container can beslipped through the loop formed by the spring. Also, the expansion ofthe spring permits the use of containers having various neck slzes.

To dispense the contents of the container, it is rotated about the axisof shaft 16 to an inclined position, so that the contents are dischargedby gravity. Since the shaft rotates easily, the weight of the containerwill automatically cause it to be righted when released. Therefore,handling of the container is greatly reduced, and the possibility ofspilling or dropping is eliminated.

In the modification shown in FIG. 3, mounting plate 10 is identical tothat shown in FIG. 1. Shaft 24 extends through the mounting plate and isformed of a pair of rods 26 and 28 having flattened, mating surfaces anda flattened loop 29 at one end. The construction is similar to that ofthe well known cotter key. The end of rods 26 and 28 nearest rearsurface of the mounting plate pass through a washer 30 and are spacedapart as at 32. The opposite end of rods 26 and 28 extend out of themounting plate and are joined together in a flattened loop 29 to graspan arcuate strip 34 of spring metal. Strip 34 is formed in a partialcircle having a radius slightly smaller than that of the neck of thecontainer. Strip 34 is attached to loop 29 by soldering.

In the modification shown in FIGURES 4 through 6, the mounting plate 40is similar in size and function to the mounting plate 10 of the previousmodification, with the form of the plate 40 illustrating another exampleof the mounting plate. A spring 42 surrounds the neck of the bottle 21,and is similar to the spring 22 used in the first modification. Thespring 42 has a loop 44 formed on each end thereof to provide aconvenient means for forming the spring into a loop. A chock 46 has aninner surface 48 that conforms to the top of the bottle 21 in the areaof the neck thereof. The chock 46 has a radially fully extending hole 50therethrough whose diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of thespring 42. A second hole 52 is provided longitudinally through the chockwith the axis of the hole 52 intersecting the axis of the hole 52 in aperpendicular relation thereto. A shaft 54, with a head 56 thereon, isprovided to assemble the elements of the brackets and to pivotally mountthe bottle and chock to the mounting plate. In assembling thismodification of the invention, the shaft 54 is inserted from the back ofthe mounting plate 40 in an opening 58 extending generallyperpendicularly therethrough. The head 56 of the shaft will abut againstthe back of the plate with the shaft portion extending therefrom. Thespring 42 is then formed into a loop with the ends thereof inserted intothe hole 50 through the chock so that the loops 44 on the ends of thespring are in alignment with each other and with the hole 52 through thechock. The chock and the spring are then inserted into the shaft 56 sothat the shaft will extend through the hole 52, and then across the axisof the hole 50 and through the loops 44 on the spring 42 and out throughthe inner surface 48 of the chock. The end of the shaft 54 is then bentat a right angle to the remainder of the shaft to form a locking tab 60.With the modifications thus assembled, the operation thereof isidentical to the previous modifications.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. For instance, the expansible spring means have been disclosedas being rigidly attached to a shaft which is rotatable in the mountingplate. However, it should be understood that the expansible spring meansmay be rotatably mounted on a shaft which is rigidly attached to themounting plate.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for holding containers comprising:

(a) a mounting plate having a rear surface means for attaching the plateto a vertical surface;

(b) an expensible self-adjusting spring-type clamp pivotally mounted onsaid plate for rotation about an axis perpendicular to said rearsurface;

() a shaft mounted in said plate substantially perpendicular to saidrear surface and having one end extending beyond the plate on the sideopposite to the rear surface, said clamp being attached to said one endof the shaft and wherein said shaft is mounted in said plate forrotation about an axis perpendicular to said rear surface and said clampis rigidly attached to said one end; and (d) wherein said clampcomprises a coil spring formed in a loop, means on the one end of theshaft to attach each end of said spring thereto and maintain the springsubstantially in a plane passing through the axis of the shaft. 2. Adevice for holding containers as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaftis formed with a rigid curved extension at one end, at least part ofsaid coil spring being formed around said extension whereby said springis held in a plane perpendicular to the rear surface.

3. A device for holding containers as defined in claim 1 wherein saidshaft is formed with a rigid curved extension at one end, at least partof said coil spring being formed around said extension whereby saidspring is held in a plane perpendicular to said rear surface.

4. A device for holding containers as defined in claim 1 wherein saidmeans comprises a chock and a coil spring formed in a loop, each end ofsaid spring being attached to said chock with said chock being receivedon a shaft rotatably mounted in said plate.

5. A device for holding containers as defined in claim 4 wherein thecoil on the ends of said coil springs are bent degrees relative to thenext adjacent coil so that said shaft when received through said chockwill be received through said end coils.

6. A device for holding containers as defined in claim 4 wherein onesurface of said chock is contoured to cooperate with the contour of thecontainer near an open end therein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,005,235 10/1911 Langguth 248312X 2,340,521 2/1944 Engert 248312 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,106,958 12/1955France.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl.X.R. 248-315

